Indicator-lock.



Patented Dec. 14, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEET I.

WITNESSES.-

ATTORNEY.

COLUMBIA PLANQGRAPH C0,,WAsmNu'roN, D. c.

J. H. SHAW.

INDICATOR LOCK.

APPLICATION FILED IULY25. 1913.

9, Patented Dec. 14, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IVITNESSES: INVENTOR.

W A TTORNEY.

COLUMBIA PLANDGRAPH C0.,WASHINGTDN, D. c.

T FTF.

JOHN H. SHAW, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO SAR GENT & COMPANY, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

INDICATOR-LOCK.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Dec. 14L, 1915.

Application filed J'uly 25, 1913. Serial No. 781,175.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. SHAW, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Indicator- Locks, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to locks which are furnished with means for indicating whether the door is locked or unlocked, and it refers more especially to a lock for hotel corridor doors, having an indicator which can be read by feeling or touch as well as visually.

One of the primary objects of the invention is to provide a mechanism wherein one position of the bolt (in or out) is indicated by the opening of a hole or aperture in the outside escutcheon, which hole or aperture is closed when the bolt occupies the other position. This hole or aperture in the escutcheon can be very readily felt by the chambermaid when the corridor is poorly lighted or entirely dark, and she will thus be advised as to the locked or unlocked condition of the bolt. When the bolt is in the other position, the hole or aperture will preferably be filled in such a manner that the outer surface of the escutcheon will be smooth and continuous like the ordinary escutcheons, which condition can also be readily ascertained by the chambermaid in the dark.

My invention also has in view the improvement of certain general and detail features of construction in indicator locks, as hereinafter set forth.

To these and other ends, the invention consists in the novel features and combination of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a fragmentary outside view of a door having a lock constructed in accordance with my invention, the outer knob being partially broken away, and the indicator being in a i position to show that the door is unlocked.

Fig. 2 is another fragmentary view showing the other position of the indicator in which the bolt to which it relates is protracted, Fig. 3 is a section on line 33 of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a section on line 4-4 of Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a fragmentary rear View of the outside escutcheon, Fig. 6 is a section on line 6-6 of Fig. 5, Fig. 7 is a section on line 7--7 of Fig. 5, Fig. 8'is a section 011 line 8-8 of Fig. 3, and Fig. 9 is a fragmentary outside view of one of the lock case walls.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 1, 10 indicates the edge portion of a door in which is mortised a lock 11 of the general type illustrated in Letters Patent, N 0. 898,434 granted to Sargent & Company on September 15, 1908, as assignee of William J. Carroll. This lock is equipped with a dead bolt 12 adapted to be protracted exclusively by a key inserted in a keyhole 13 in the inside escutcheon 13 It is further equipped with an outside bolt 14 adapted to be protracted exclusively by a key inserted in a keyhole 15 in the outside escutcheon 16. In the drawings the illustration of the lock is merely diagrammatic for the most part, as I do not restrict myself to a lock of the type indicated.

Referring particularly to Figs. 3 and 1, 17 indicates the keyhole in the lock case adapted for the reception of the key from the inside. Located opposite this keyhole is a rotary disk 18 mounted to turn in the opposite wall of the case and having a seat 19 for the stem of the key and a notch or seat 20 to receive the key bit. The disk 18 is rotatably held in place in a round opening of the lock case wall by means of a collar 21 integral with said disk at one face of the wall and by a collar 22 frictionally fitted over the disk at the opposite face of the wall. The disk is provided with small holes 23 in which are slidably fitted the ends of pins 24 carried by a cam 25 rotatably mounted in the inner face of the outside escutcheon 16 so that the rotation of the disk or plug 18 will be imparted to said cam. The cam is mounted to turn in a plane parallel to that of the escutcheon and it is provided with a peripheral cam groove 26 fitting the correspondingly formed end of a pivoted lever 27 mounted to swing in a plane perpendicular to the plane of the escutcheon. The lever 25 is pivoted intermediate of its ends on the inner face of the escutcheon by means of a pivot pin 28 supported in lugs 29, and as the cam is rotated in one or the other direction, the end of the lever remote from the connection with the cam will be swung toward or away from the escutcheon. The lever extremity in question is adapted in one position to completely fill an opening The operation of the device is substan-' tially as follows: In the position shown in Fig. 1, the inside bolt 12 is retracted and the head or indicating portion 31 of the lever 27 occupies its innermost position, thereby uncovering the escutcheon opening 30. Any

one familiar with the lock may be advised as to the position of the inside bolt by feeling the escutcheon under which conditions the projection of the finger or thumb into the opening 30 will indicate that the inside bolt is retracted and that the room is not occupied. Supposing now that the guest wishes to lock the door from the inside, he inserts the key in the inside keyhole, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, whereupon the key Will be seated in the disk or plug 18. As the key is turned in a direction to protract the inside bolt, the rotation of the plug 18 by the key will cause the cam to be rotated by the connecting pins 24, thereby moving the head 31 of the lever 27 into that position in which it completely fills the opening 30. In the protracted position of the inside bolt, the outer surface of the head 31 will preferably be flush with the outer surface of the escutcheon, in which case the smooth and continuous feeling of the escutcheon (or in other words the disappearance of the hole therein) will indicate that the inside bolt has been protracted and that the room is occupied.

Obviously I do not limit myself to a construction in which the open condition of the hole or aperture 30 corresponds to the retracted position of the bolt, as a reversal of the described arrangement in this respect may be easily effected.

Without limiting myself to the construction shown, I claim:

1. The combination with a lock having a bolt, and an escutcheon on one face of the door, of an indicating lever, means pivoting said lever on the rear face of the escutcheon, a cam on the escutcheon for shifting said lever, and means to turn said cam as the bolt is actuated; substantially as described. 2. The combination with a lock having a bolt and an escutcheon having an opening therein, of an indicating lever having a portion adapted to fill said opening, a. cam mounted on the inner face of the escutcheon for actuating said lever, and means for turning said cam as the bolt is actuated; substantially as described.

3. In an indicator lock, the combination of an escutcheon, a cam rotatably mounted on the rear face of said escutcheon, and a lever operated by said cam and having an indicating portion movable dcpthwise of the door; substantially as described.

4:. In an indicator lock, the combination of an escutcheon having an opening, a cam mounted on said escutcheon to rotate in a plane parallel to the latter and having a peripheral groove, and an intermcdiately pivoted indicating lever having one end ongaging the cam groove and the other end movable toward and away from said openingin the escutcheon; substantially as described.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand on the 23rd day of July, 1913.

JOHN H. SHAIV.

Witnesses:

F. G. HAMMER, FLORENCE M. BRADLEY.

Copies of this patent niay be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

